Zarco first home winner of French MotoGP since 1954

AFP | Le Mans

Email : editor@newsofbahrain.com

Johann Zarco produced an outstanding ride in difficult wet conditions at Le Mans yesterday to become the first home winner of the French MotoGP in 71 years.

Riding in his 150th MotoGP, the 34-yearold Honda LCR rider hit the front after eight laps and held his position through to the end of the race to become the first Frenchman to take the chequered flag in the top category race since Pierre Monneret in 1954.

In front of the biggest-ever attendance at a MotoGP event and with his mother watching him for the first time ever, Zarco finished 19.907 seconds ahead of six-time world champion Marc Marquez (Ducati) with 20-yearold rookie Fermin Aldeguer (Ducati-Gresini) claiming a first podium in just his sixth race.

Zarco was in tears before he was even off his bike and immediately celebrated with his team and, after the crowd had offered an impromptu rendition of La Marseillaise, he performed a back flip off a wall, his favourite celebration since his two Moto2 world titles in 2015 and 2016.

“It’s incredible, I can hardly believe it,” said an emotional Zarco whose only previous MotoGP win came in Australia in 2023.

“I always give my best but I never thought I’d win. The way I won was very special. I had to be in control and almost wait for victory to come.”

There were no points for Alex Marquez, Marc’s younger brother, who went sliding off four laps from the finish, the last of the day’s six non-finishers, all victims to the filthy weather which made the track so treacherous.